Of course, it depends on how fast the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is immediately tapped and how fast we can start a large-scale exploitation of oil tar sands in Canada, oil shale in the Rocky Mountains, and liquifying coal from all over the USA as potential substitutes. Prices will be high for the short term but in the longer term as the alternate petroleum resources come online prices will start to fall fairly rapidly to something approaching current price levels. I think people are forgetting that the USA has massive reserves of coal from the Rocky Mountains all the way to the Appalacian Mountains--all of which can be converted to petroleum products through coal liquification.
The analyst with the direst concern says the reserves will be of no help. Nor, apparently, would oil tar or oil shale recovery. His pessimism is based on the likelihood oil refineries outside of New Orleans will be out of commission for quite some time. There will be no or few plants available to refine the crude.
I think people are forgetting that the USA has massive reserves of coal from the Rocky Mountains all the way to the Appalacian Mountains--all of which can be converted to petroleum products through coal liquification.
Worse than forgetting. Unaware.
What would be required to quickly convert and distribute enough coal-extracted oil sufficient to replace lost refining capacity? How quickly might it be done? Would the liquefied oil require further refining?